Widely celebrated for his maritime histories, the author of the National Book Award winner In the Heart of the Sea and the Pulitzer Prize nominee Mayflower turns to one of the most storied episodes of the American West. The June 1876 battle between the U.S. cavalry and Sitting Bull's combined force of Plains Indian warriors has become mythologized as Custer's Last Stand. In a tightly structured narrative that moves between both camps, Philbrick brilliantly sketches the two larger-than-life antagonists in their own worlds, and reminds readers that the Battle of the Little Bighorn was also, even in victory, the last stand for the Sioux and Cheyenne Indian nations.

"Philbrick here takes on an oft-told tale, replete with its dashing, flawed main character, its historically doomed, noble Native chief, and a battlefield strewn with American corpses.... Judicious in his assessments of events and intentions, Philbrick offers a rounded history ... enhanced by his minute examination of the battle's terrain and interviews with descendants in both camps. Distinctively, too, he takes no sides. In his compelling history, Philbrick underscores the pyrrhic nature of Sitting Bull's victory—it was followed by federal action to move his tribe to a reservation."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)